Emotional Torture
by Aikido Kasshin Ryu
Summary: When you suffer from a deceased mother, an unfaithful boyfriend, and an Equalist father, it's expected to cope with a lot of pain. Asami felt the best way to cope was to bury her true emotions and pretend that everything was her imagination. Those sleepless, torturous nights said otherwise. An Asami Sato oneshot.


Another sleepless night, as her eyes locked with the ceiling above her. With the many thoughts spiraling through her head, the ability to obtain any amount of rest was useless. It all started with that horrific evening in the Republic City, when the Agni Kai Triad struck the Sato estate. She remembered that night, as a simple robbery had led to the unthinkable.

During the break-in, a young Asami Sato took heed of her mother's command to take cover in the upper floor of the mansion, while being ushered into a closet. However, it did not take long before she heard a series of screams and cries from below, followed by a few threats that silenced. Out of her child-like curiosity, Asami did not realize that her decision was a greatly foolish one.

Approaching the bottom of the main hall stairs, she witnessed the sight of her parents surrounded by a group of men, her father held down by two, her mother restrained by one. Dumbfounded and frightened, the cries of her father to escape did not register to the child. However, the only thing that caught her attention was one of the men pointing a finger at Asami, his tip emitting a small flame. Her father struggled and begged to break free, but his attempts were ceased with a heavy blow to the temple.

Asami snapped out of her trance, and before she knew it, a stream of fire had fired in her direction. Shielding herself and shutting her eyes, she realized that her girlish scream was overpowered by a more womanly one. Opening her eyes, her pupils stretched in horror. It was her mother, who had managed to break free from her hold and become nothing more than the equivalent of a roasting chestnut in her daughter's place during her final moments. At that, the last thing Asami heard from her mother was not her gentle voice, but her blood-curdling shrieks of agony. No matter how many times the child cried for her mother, it didn't diminished the flames engulfing her mother's body nor reserve time to set things to normal. If only she had obeyed her mother, Asami would be able to still hear that soothing voice today. From then on, she did everything in her power to pretend that everything was a mere nightmare.

The self-defense courses her father enrolled her in after the tragedy only had a convalescent effect of Asami's emotional wounds. Though the child saw her exercises as ways to escape the reality of her mother's ceased existence, her childish, unrealistic thoughts would mentally abuse for failing to prevent the murder when it was truly out of her control. It was irrelevant how many strikes Asami threw out or how well she performed them; they couldn't either reserve time nor land a blow on her depression to combat it.

Her father, Hiroshi Sato, grew up as a young boy with big dreams but small wealth, but in the end became an established businessman by inventing the Satomobile. Evolving into her teen years, Asami took a liking to the vehicle, as a result honed her skills as an expert driver. But it was only another form of escapism; no matter how fast or far she drove, she couldn't leave it all behind. The screams of her mother would ring during every race she entered, pushing her to either reach the finish line as soon as possible, or purposely crash to put herself out of her misery.

Pro-bending was what saved her from ultimate despair. Despite being of Fire Nation ethnicity, she lacked the ability to even manipulate the element, but was grateful for not being anything related to those heartless killers who raided her home. As a non-bender, all Asami could do was sit beside the radio in her bedroom and tune out the rest of the world. Listening to the interviews of the benders opened her eyes to the world, realizing that not all fire benders were cold-blooded murderers. However, just like the last few attempts, it was a bust.

Mako was the flame-manipulating captain of the Fire Ferrets, and the Sato heiress and the pro-bending captain soon took a liking to each other, and soon Asami was in true bliss. She could finally form a smile on her face again. Growing acquainted with the other team members, she then had friends at her side. Asami felt safe and happy in Mako's presence, and her hatred for fire benders had diminished. However, it wasn't before she was dragged back down to Earth. Suddenly, he became cold, neglectful, and always tense in her presence, leaving Asami in the dark.

The shattering of her heart was an immediate one as Mako's brother unwittingly confessed Mako's unfaithfulness, catching him locking lips with a fellow teammate days after they started dating. A confrontation had ensued soon after, but Mako did nothing but avoid the conversation and the responsibility of his actions. Any woman would take her anger out of the "other woman", but as Asami gotten to know the other woman, Korra, she couldn't find the smallest bit of hostility to hold against her. _  
_

However, her emotional scars had tore open as the metalbending police force raided the Sato estate due to an accusation of her father being an Equalist. Asami believed otherwise, but the discoveries later that evening proved her wrong. From the secret passageway in the garage that led to the underground factory beneath the mansion from witnessing the bodies of the police force scattered about and her father's disheveled appearance, she was spiraling back into that whirlpool of sorrow she thought she escaped.

Asami never realized that behind her father's joyous smile when meeting Mako for the first time, was inner distraught and anguish. Ignorant of how every second she spent with Mako, every time she mentioned his name or just any sort of bending, was a stab at his heart that reminded him of the ceased existence of his wife, it eventually drove him to align with the bender-executing organization.

As her father offered a taser-like glove and the opportunity to join the Equalists, she reached for it with great, visible distrust. Her body quivering with hesitation, the glove had slipped onto her hand. With one last "I love you", Asami struck the man down with a electrified blow to the chest, refueling on anger all over again.

Right behind Hiroshi was the Lieutenant, charging for her with his baton raised high and ready to bring it down. Asami made sure to leave the man with regret, launching her leg high for a kick. Her foot connected with the Lieutanant's hand, sending the tool soaring out of his hand. With excellent momentum, Asami caught his arm, and with a bending motion, the Lieutenant forcibly electrocuted himself before being thrown to the ground.

Escaping from the blimp, Asami couldn't accept the sight of her home in a burning ruin through the window, nor the fact her father, who was the only family she had left, was a criminal. Distraught, frightened, and homelessness, she no longer had the comfort of her loved ones, but only the memories of what used to be her happiness.

Ceasing in her reminiscing, Asami's eyes grew red. Clasping a hand over her mouth, she tried to muffle her sobbing, finally releasing the bottled up misery within her. With no one's embrace to fall into, all she could do was hold on to herself.

"Mom..." She groaned through sniffling and gritted teeth. As long as Asami held on to this pain, then every night would always be the same; emotional torture.


End file.
